Providing information to help develop students' sense of narrative and to show them specific test-taking strategies, this publication is helpful to teachers as they ready their students for the North Carolina Fourth Grade Writing Assessment. The publication provides materials on generating ideas for writing, selecting topics, revising, developing children's concept of story, as well as test-taking strategies and information about test scoring. The first part of the publication discusses effective writing instruction and the writing process. The second part discusses narratives and concept of story. The third part addresses preparation for the North Carolina Writing Assessment. A 192-item list of authors and titles of children's books (arranged by topic) and a 39-item professional bibliography on writing are attached. (RS)